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Fans fight to save Toronto’s Far Enough Farm

Far Enough Farm, which opened in 1959, is under threat of closing if a backer can't be found. Residents are fighting to keep it open.

Visitors to Far Enough Farm on Centre Island take photos of Boot, a 15-year-old retired police horse. While grassroots movements have sprung up to save High Park Zoo and Riverdale Zoo is there anyone out there to save the Island Zoo? (Colin McConnell / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Kristin RushowyStaff Reporter

Sun., April 15, 2012

It’s not too late to save the farm.

That’s what supporters of Far Enough Farm are hoping as the City of Toronto waits for an end-of-day Tuesday deadline to hear from interested parties willing to take over running the $221,000-a-year attraction on Centre Island for at least the next year.

Councillor Pam McConnell (Toronto Centre-Rosedale) said that in the meantime, the long-term lease to run Centreville, which expires this spring, has now been extended a year as city staff work to “bundle” it with the farm so that any operator would take over both.

“I think that city staff would like both the Far Enough Farm and Centreville attractions to be put together as a package,” she said.

“If we can keep it open now and this summer, it will give us a chance to see whether it can be bundled with Centreville.”

The city has decided to cut funding from Far Enough Farm, as well as the High Park Zoo and Riverdale Farm, as of June 30. High Park recently received a high-profile $50,000 donation and local residents are working to find ways to generate funds to keep Riverdale Farm running.

And while Far Enough Farm — located beside Centreville — hasn’t garnered the same attention, island residents and supporters have been busy trying to save the treasured hobby farm, presenting the city with a 7,000-signature petition, setting up a Facebook page that now has 1,065 likes, putting up posters and spreading the word that its future is under threat.

McConnell said she’s hopeful someone will be found to run it in the interim.

“I must say I am keeping my fingers crossed and my toes and everything else I have that we will still be open this summer,” she said. “I know it’s an important piece of the experience of the island, particularly of children who go to Centreville.”

The farm, which opened in 1959, is free and open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. year round. It is home to two retired police horses — one, Boot, whose last assignment was the G20 summit — as well as two mini-horses, three donkeys and sheep, goats, pigs, cows, emus, chickens, pheasants and ducks.

One island resident, who heads to the farm every Sunday with carrots in hand to feed the animals, said a donation box or a small fee — maybe a dollar — might help. He even hopes a corporate sponsor — such as Purina, or Canadian Tire — might save the day.

He noted the facility is visited by schoolchildren from across the city, roughly 100 per week, and especially students at the Island school

Lynn Mortimore, who has lived on the island for more than 30 years, volunteers every Friday grooming the horses, donkeys and mini-horses.

“Our primary goal is to save the farm, and save the animals and the jobs,” of the two full-time staff and one seasonal worker, she said, and then long-term, creative solutions could be worked out.

She wonders why a portion of ferry fares — which are set to rise — couldn’t be diverted to the farm since many of the one million visitors to the island head there.

She’s concerned that if Centreville takes over the farm, that like the rides, it will be shut down in the winter, and that staff without animal expertise may be brought in.

Far Enough Farm has a special place in residents’ hearts, she added, and has been visited from guests around the world.

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